By Alice Beyer Schuch – January 2020
Cirkla Modo was invited for a guest lecture on Sustainable Design Concepts for the Master’s Sustainability in Fashion and Creative Industries at AMD Akademie für Mode & Design, in Berlin, Germany.
The topic was developed as a 2 days workshop where we started discussing the statement “80% of environmental impact of products is determined during the design phase!”. The “whys” sustainability should be applied right now were presented. And, despite the source of the aforementioned statement and whether the % is accurate or not, we all could agree that the impact during the design phase is relevant and not to be overlooked!
From that, different design perspectives were explored, in concepts such as:
Biomimicry : an approach to innovation that seeks sustainable solutions to human challenges by mimicking nature’s time-tested patterns and strategies.
Cradle to Cradle : a concept for the design of products and systems that models human industry on nature’s processes viewing materials as nutrients circulating in healthy, safe metabolisms.
Circular Economy : an economic system aimed at eliminating waste and the continual use of resources, keeping products, equipment and infrastructure in use for longer, thus improving the productivity of these resources.
The group analysed the levels of interference in sustainability of each concept, going from getting design inspiration from natural elements, further considering natural systems and finally evaluating its application in economical systems. And discussions on the impacts of material, design, business models and necessary structures were also evolved.
In the end, the students designed a product based on one or more of the 10 different design strategies shown (and around 90 #hashtags diverted from that) which support designing sustainability in many different ways!
I hope you all enjoyed and learned as I did!
Looking much forward to the next classes!
***
Interested in knowing more?
If you are a student, you can BOOK A TALK and get direct insights from a #circularfashion specialist! Keep up with LinkedIn and Instagram updates! There are also some free slots! Stay tuned!
For fashion companies, educational institutions, or programs it is possible to increase designer skills with Cirkla Modo’s special training and mentoring in the topic of Sustainable Fashion & Circular Design Strategies. Get in contact or check some projects here.
CIRKLA MODO 